This May End Badly by Samantha Markum is a quick, fun YA romp. Weston girls and Winfield boys don't mix. Rivals doesn't even begin to describe the feud that exists between the two boarding schools, and as the clock ticks down on toward graduation, Doe is determined to make every minute count and beat Winfield once and for all.

This book centers around fierce female friendships, falling in love, and making tough decisions and finding what matters most. There's enemies to lovers, and fake-dating, and ultimately, a happy ever after for Doe and Welles. In addition to the romance, Markum handles hard topics like bullying and sexual assault with tenderness and care. I'm always looking for the next good book to recommend to the teen gals in my life, and this one fits the bill. Overall this is a powerful debut, and I look forward to reading whatever Markum writes next.

I was thoroughly entertained reading this book, it was adorably cute and so much fun. I was a big fan of the friendship, the pranking and the relationship between Doe and Wells. I love a good fake dating trope and this one did not disappoint. As someone who reads mainly adult romance, I really loved how this felt appropriate for YA but still realistic to what a lot of teens are going through today. I really think this is a super relatable book and such a great addition to the YA genre. It’s fun and lighthearted at times, while also diving into deeper topics like sexual harassment and assault, friendship dynamics, family dynamics, sexuality, and relationships as a teen. A lot was touched upon and while there were many overlapping plot points, everything was nicely wrapped up at the end. For a debut novel, this was so well done! I will definitely be recommending it to friends.

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get into this book at the beginning. Doe, the main character, is obsessed with her rivalry with Three and his boarding school. She is so obsessed that her life takes a backside to this feud. However, as this wonderful story continued, it addressed so many things I know my children deal with in their lives: family relationships, friendships, gender identity, reporting things when they are wrong. It is also Doe's awakening from angry and , in some ways, self-absorbed teenager, to aware and mature warrior. Doe doubts so much about herself, but this journey with her friends, her love interest, and her school is what so many teens go through. I found this book to be relatable and something I would encourage my students to read.

This YA book set in elite private schools who are in a prank war seemed fun, but it is just not for me. I've tried and put it down for months. Moving on to something else.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

What happens when you put a prestigious all-boys school next to a prestigious all-girls school? A rivalry for the ages!

Winfield Academy and The Weston School have been in a no-holds-bar prank war since anyone can remember, but no one takes it as seriously as Dorothy (Doe) Saltpeter. Everything ratchets up a notch when a merger between the two schools is announced. Doe will stop at nothing to protect the school she loves dearly from being invaded by Winfield boys. Even if that means teaming up with the enemy.

This May End Badly is about learning how to grow up and move on, but it's also about the power of young people to unite together and create positive change. Doe is a very relatable character and you can't help but want to yell at her when she's making all her horrible choices. Her character arc was so well done and I wish we saw this thorough character development in all YA books. She's not a horrible person, she's just caught up in the Weston-Winfield rivalry and lost about what life will look like after graduating. Each one of her relationships (whether friend or foe) teaches Doe an important lesson and helps her correct her path.

Readers should be aware that there is sexual misconduct by a person of power in this book.

3.5 stars. This was a fun YA about a prank war between rival schools with a bit of teenage romance thrown in. I enjoyed the fake dating/enemies to lovers relationship between Doe and Wells -- they had great banter.

My biggest complaint is it felt like the story had a lot going on where it wasn't all executed well -- the inappropriate teacher storyline felt thrown in and not handled in the best manner.

Overall an entertaining story with lots of laughs. Thanks Wednesday Books and NetGalley for my advance copy.

Can a historically all female school merge with an all male school? Not always a consideration but it has happened in real life and it is happening in this delightful story! What can possible go wrong, right?

As you can imagine a lot of students oppose this union, specially the main character, Doe. The character feels immature over her reaction to this decision. Luckily, things become more clear as you move along with the story your view of Doe may change to a more positive, well liked character.

The story does have a large share of the anxieties of leaving the only world you know behind for a new phase in life that is about to begin once you are done with high school For Doe, she puts too much energy into trying to keep her school as it has been - it seems that this goal consumes her whole life. Her friends are now casualties in this crazy obsession, until Doe takes a good look at her own self and re-evaluates what she is doing.

There is a lot of humor - the pranks played against one another are greatness! With that said, the story teaches the reader how easily it is to forget what is really important in one's life... A lot of times we let things consume us - we give them too much power. This book is a great reminder to take your power back and focus on the things that really matter.

So very cute! I loved how familiar this book felt and enjoyed the author's writing style. I enjoyed the romance.

#ThisMayEndBadly follows Dorothy - aka Doe - and her best friends during their senior year at Weston, an all girls boarding school. The school next-door, Winfield, an all boys school, is one that they’ve had a rivalry with for decades. Doe and her friends took up the mantle of the rivalry when they started at Weston and now in their senior year the prank war has reached new heights. When the schools announce that they’re going to be merging in the following year, Doe and her friends take it upon themselves to see if they can stop it. When Doe decides to start fake dating Wells, the cousin of her longtime nemesis Three, she soon finds herself learning that there’s more to high school than pranks and maybe, just maybe, it’s about time to grow up.

This was an excellent YA romcom! Doe and Wells were absolutely adorable together and I loved how the fake dating trope played out in the storyline. Their friends were well developed characters and Markum really allowed them to shine through on their own which I loved.

I am so grateful to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for my early copy of this book!

as soon as i read that this book had fake dating and it was a girl vs. boy boarding school, i was HOOKED. first time reading samantha markum and it won't be my last. this book gave me found family as well with jade, sumi, gemma and shawn; the best friends a girl could ask for. there were a few many subplots that i was a bit hesitant about (mr. tully) but in the end, it all made sense for the greater plotline and actually moved the story forwards. i also love the cover 10/10

This book had a lot going on. I feel like sticking to a few different plot lines would have been better than trying to include all the tropes; rivalries, fake dating, enemies to lovers, family drama, etc. it made things kind of convoluted and I would have rather had a focus on one or two of the tropes.

Also, what’s with the predatory teacher? I didn’t feel this was needed or appropriate for YA book. Maybe if the plot had demonstrated how to deal with that situation rather than not addressing it at all, it could have been more acceptable. This just didn’t sit right with me and is likely a reason I just didn’t end up being a fan of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley + Wednesday Books for the ARC.

Although I couldn't get into this book much myself, I think my students would LOVE it - between the pranks, friendships, relationships, I think it is a book worth having in the class library!

This book made me feel a lot of different emotions. I cried, I laughed, and I did not want to put it down.

You are really sucked in to Doe's life with her friends and their rivalry with the Winfield boys school. I was not expecting this book to cover as many topics as it did but wow.

Looking forward to reading more books from Samantha Markum in the future.

This was such a fun book!

I'm getting reacquainted with YA romances and this was the perfect book to get me back into them! Who doesn't love a fake dating trope?? So good!

I love this cover too!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the earc in return for an honest review.

I thought I knew where this story was going, a cute fake dating romance featuring prank wars between two rival schools. But it flipped the script on me three quarters of the way through, with a uncomfortably descriptive appearance of sexual assault by a male teacher, which threw me.

Most of the story is fairly predictable, in her final year at school Doe finds out that her school, a girls only school and her rival, Three's boys only school, are merging. She decides to royally irritate him by fake dating his cousin Wells, who of course she develops feelings for.

I actually really liked Wells. He was a decent guy, funny, intelligent, loyal. He never messed Doe around and made his feelings for her known when he realised them. On the other hand, as Three was such a big part of Doe's life, I never felt that we got under the surface of him. Doe herself I frequently found to be annoying, and selfish.

The sexual assault storyline did feel like it hit me out of the blue - there was clues leading up to it, with frequent mentions of the teacher being one to avoid, but the story often moved quickly back into the prank war storyline. I couldn't help but feel that the sexual assault storyline was added in later, and the moments leading up to it written in quickly.

Overall, this was a good story, I just don't see myself reading it again and I did wish that the sexual assault storyline was scrapped altogether in favour of a lighter read - I didn't think the heavy scenes worked well with fake dating / prank war tropes that are usually used in light, fluffy reads.

This was a cute YA read. I liked the story, but found it to be a bit slow at times. I just wanted more to happen and kept waiting for more, but alas, it didn’t happen. I liked Doe and her group of friends. The shenanigans are funny and the romance cute.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my ARC.

A well above-average YA read that was a delight to read. I think the idea of the prank war was in most ways an enjoyable set-up, and I thought the characters had more depth than most recent YA romances I've read. It was a fun read, mostly charming and funny, and would be an easy book to recommend for those looking for a smart, substantive romance with character diversity. I think that YA readers will find the backdrop of the rival schools to be especially appealing, as well as the main character's friend group. I enjoyed seeing a character that had a solid friendship group to support them. I am so over the trend of the lone female protagonist that 'just isn't like other girls' and seems to be in state of perpetual solitude until the male lead appears, and so I am glad to see that it's ending and more books like this appearing. For that reason alone I would be very likely to recommend this title to my patrons.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

OK, I really liked this book. Doe is a senior at her all girls boarding school, Weston. There is a long standing prank war between Weston and the all male boarding school, Winfield, across the street. As school is starting for the new school year, Doe and her student body learn that this is the last year that this will be an all girls school and that the two schools will be merged. Doe is not having this and stops at nothing to stop this merger from going through. Doe decides to "fake date" one of the Winfield boys just to get under her rivals skin. After this, everything seems to spiral out of control er where Doe is about to not only lose her friends but also be kicked out of her beloved school.

Even though I really liked Doe, I found her to be pretty selfish. What saved her for me is that she saw the light in the end. I love to see a character grow and redeem them self. A pretty fast read that was helped by the pranks because you wanted to see where it would go next.

Sadly, I never got to this! I want to read it at some point, but obviously it won't be through Netgalley.

3.5 Stars

“This May End Badly” is a m/f YA romance full of tropes such as fake-dating and enemies-to-lovers.

Doe is horrified to learn that her beloved boarding school, Weston School, which is all girls, will be merging with Winfield Academy, the all-boys school from across the street. She and her friends have been in a prank war with the Winfield boys that started decades ago and she wants to use the pranks as a way to finally beat the boys for good and to somehow stop the merger from happening.

This was a fun read for the most part. It’s full of humor and witty banter with fun pranks on both sides. This deals heavily with friendships and family and there was a lot about it I really liked.

Although Doe is against merging the schools, I enjoyed the conversations around gender inequality and how having the schools being all-girl or all-boy doesn’t leave space for transgender and non-binary folks. As an LGBT+ person, I was happy to see this included.

My issue was with Doe, the main character. I realize this is young adult and she’s 17 so she would be making questionable decisions but I found her to be selfish and dismissive for a lot of the book. I did appreciate the fact that she actually grew and learned from her mistakes but it was a bit late for me. I found the reasoning behind all of her choices to be weak and it had me rolling my eyes. I was also surprised to see her friends call her out on her behavior, even if it took almost the whole book.

Additionally, I thought the storyline with the teacher that preys on girls kind of came out of nowhere and it left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s a serious topic but it felt forced and like it was only there to add drama on top of all the other drama that was already there.

This was a solid debut from Samantha Markum and I hope to read more from her in the future.

I received an arc from Wednesday Books/St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.